The Dark Side of Logic
by gawilliams
Summary: Bones seeks out Gordon Gordon for some advice on what she's feeling regarding her rejection of Booth and Booth's attempting to move on.
1. Chapter 1

_This is one that I was pondering in the aftermath of episode 100. I had considered making this a chapter in Booth's Lie, but decided in the end to make it its own stand alone one shot. My musings were in the direction of who would Bones turn to, other than Pops or Angela, to try and understand her emotions in the aftermath of rejecting Booth, and also the knowledge that Booth is trying to move on. The one figure that made any sense in that respect was Gordon Gordon. I hope you all enjoy this one. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

"Dr. Brennan?" Dr. Gordon Wyatt, better known as Gordon Gordon by his closest friends Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan, said as he approached the woman. He'd seen her enter his restaurant a few minutes before and noticed that she had been looking for someone, which he presumes was him. He had noticed also the slightly disturbed countenance that she had. Having spoken with Dr. Sweets a couple of weeks before he had a fairly good idea what the brilliant woman was here about. He sighed, thinking that he would never get away from the world of psychology and settle fully into his passion of cooking.

"Dr. Wyatt," Bones said, a bit of relief escaping in her tone of voice.

"Please come on back to the kitchen and my table," Gordon Gordon said with his trademark smile and avuncular cheer. "No need to stand on ceremony here. You are always my guest whenever you come to try some of my cuisine."

Bones followed him back into the kitchen area, noting the full restaurant and the frenetic, but organized pace in the kitchen. She was pleased that Gordon Gordon was doing so well in his new career. The meal that she and Booth had been treated to a few months before at this very table she was being ushered to had been superb, and she had no doubt that she would be having another excellent meal this evening, though the conversation would not be as pleasant.

"And here we are," Gordon Gordon said as he placed wine glass in her hand, a small swirl of wine in the bottom for her to give her approval of. He watched as she expertly went through the formal wine tasting ritual and then smiled, nodding her approval. He poured a full glass and then snapped his fingers signaling a salad was required at the table. He sat across from her and looked at her with his usual, casual look that belied the piercing analysis that he engaged in. "While I am honored to have you as my guest, and I assure you you are most welcome anytime you wish, but I sense that you have something important on your mind which brought you here," he observed when the salad had arrived and she had taken a few small bites.

"I am still uncomfortable with psychology, being as it is a soft science, but you have demonstrated a penchant for assisting others in times of genuine distress, or trouble," Bones prefaced her remarks. "You helped Booth when he was having difficulty with his shooting, and I am able to see where your comments have been somewhat prescient in the past, so I came her in hopes that you could possibly help me to understand something."

Gordon Gordon smiled deeper at her prefacing remarks. He would have been shocked if the hyper-rational, act based scientist in front of him hadn't made some sort of disparaging remarks about his former profession, and somewhat disappointed. He found her incisive logic and approach rather refreshing. Not always correct, but refreshing. One knew where one stood with her at all times.

"While I am now but a humble chef, Dr. Brennan, I believe that I may be able to offer a few words now and again to good friends, and good company," Gordon Gordon replied, offering his own preface pointing out his change in profession. "What seems to be bothering you, if I may be so bold?"

Bones quickly, and as dispassionately as possible, told Gordon Gordon of the session with Sweets a couple of weeks before. Then she revealed what had happened outside the building. "Booth told me he wanted to take a chance on us," she told Gordon Gordon who was listening intently.

"Am I to infer that you rejected his advances?" Gordon Gordon asked, though he already knew the answer. It got the reaction he was hoping to see. Dr. Brennan's shoulders slumped and her serious face began to show the signs of genuine distress, and no small bit of anguish.

"Yes," Bones admitted, almost reluctantly. She'd been thinking of that and almost nothing else since then, and she had no one to talk to about it until now. Angela knew something had happened, and not good, but had not pressed. Bones knew that if Angela found out what really happened she would be treated to a lengthy lecture about how incredibly stupid she'd been that night. "I told him that I couldn't be with him because I wanted to keep him from being hurt. I can't take the chance of him being hurt."

"Why would he be hurt?" Gordon Gordon asked curiously. In many ways he felt that concern for Agent Booth would be a motivating factor in any decision that Dr. Brennan made in regards to her feelings, so the revelation wasn't too much of a surprise.

"I don't know how to make a relationship work," she replied bluntly. "I'm socially awkward at best, and he deserves someone who can give herself to him without reservation. He also drew a line, and while I may disagree with it on most levels, I can't deny the view I hold that the work we do is too important to risk on a relationship that has no guarantees of success."

"In other words, you applied logic to the emotions behind whether to begin a romantic relationship with Agent Booth," Gordon Gordon observed. The main course came out and he explained what she would be dining on that evening. It was an excellent pasta with a crème sauce. Braised green beans in a fine garlic butter sauce was the side dish.

"I'm a scientist," she pointed out firmly. "Logic is what I know. It's how I derive solutions to complex problems, and draw conclusions as to what is happening around me."

Gordon Gordon let that go for one moment. "And what was Agent Booth's reaction?" he queried.

"He-..." Bones' voice hitched for a moment, though she hoped that it wasn't too obvious, though by the intrigued look on Gordon Gordon's face she knew he'd noticed instantly. "He said he needed to move on. He needed to find someone who could love him for him and for the next 30 or 40 or 50 years."

Gordon Gordon saw the conflicted emotions clearly in her eyes. Those brilliant blue eyes of hers were most revealing if one looked hard enough, though most didn't. "Is Agent Booth dating someone?" he asked quickly, while the emotions were still there.

"I'm not sure, but I think so," Bones replied very quickly.

"May I ask whom he has decided to date?"

"A marine biologist," Bones said with extreme reluctance.

"Blonde, brunette?"

"Brunette," came the reply, again with serious reluctance.

"And how does that make you feel?" Gordon Gordon prodded.

"What do you mean?" Bones asked, deliberately avoiding his thinly veiled conclusions.

"I would assume you have some view on the subject seeing as you rejected Agent Booth on the basis of protecting him from being hurt," Gordon Gordon observed, never letting his eyes wander from her face as she slowly ate her meal.

"I'm not sure," she said finally.

"Interesting," Gordon Gordon said, his warm smile in place as always.

"Interesting?" Bones responded almost harshly. "I'm confused, and don't know what to do and you say that's _interesting_?"

"Oh, but it is indeed interesting," Gordon Gordon replied.

"How so?" she asked witheringly.

"Interesting that the woman who said just a few months ago that she couldn't think of anything she wouldn't do for Agent Booth is now explaining how her logic has convinced her that she simply cannot be in a relationship with him, yet is now feeling torn with the fact that he is now dating someone who not only is a scientist, but a brunette, which speaks volumes of the kind of woman that Agent Booth feels is right for him," Gordon Gordon observed. He didn't ordinarily tip his hand so much at any point in a consultation, but he'd found with Dr. Brennan that a more direct approach was usually warranted.

"I still don't understand," Bones said with a genuine bit of confusion, not feigned.

"Actually Dr. Brennan, I believe you know exactly what is happening, and you also know exactly what you want," Gordon Gordon said, going back to the more enigmatic approach. "The real question is, are you willing to set logic aside and listen to what your mind is _**really**_ trying to tell you?"

"That doesn't make any sense," Bones shook her head. This was exactly why she hated psychology so much. Nothing made any sense in any logical, meaningful way.

"The mind rarely does, Dr. Brennan," Gordon Gordon informed her, amused at her facial reaction. "And when it comes to genuine human emotions logic is no help in reaching conclusions."

"But what if I don't know?" she asked.

"My Dear, you've known since before I first met you," Gordon Gordon revealed. "The real trouble is that your own fears are blinding you to what you know you want, and in fact need. But the decision as to whether you are able to let go of your shield, if you will, that incisive logic you use with exactingly ruthless aplomb, is entirely up to you."

"I'm not sure that I can do that," Bones admitted with complete honesty.

"Then I don't know what to tell you, Dr. Brennan," he responded. "I will point out one thing, though. No matter what your final decision is respecting a relationship with Agent Booth, unless you come at the decision based on how you truly feel, as opposed to some logical construct, then you will succeed only in causing the very damage you supposedly sought to avoid two weeks ago. Agent Booth deserves an honest answer, not a constructed one that in reality has nothing to do with the emotions and attachments that both of you have regarding the other."

She didn't fully understand what was being told to her, but then she rarely did at first when Gordon Gordon said anything. She needed to consider it some more in private, and also think about what he was implying. The reluctance she felt was now focused on the idea that she may in fact find that her security blanket of sorts, her logic, may in fact be the problem instead of the solution.

"I will have to consider what you've said," Bones told him.

"Just remember that everything, including, and especially, logic has a dark side to it," Gordon Gordon advised. He saw that she had finished her dinner. "Now, would you care for some dessert? And would you mind if I joined you in that? I find myself to be hungry for some reason."

Bones smiled. "Only if we can talk about something other than my so-called issues," she told him.

"My word of honor," Gordon Gordon said, signaling for some dessert for the both of them. He hoped that she didn't take too long in finding what she was looking for, as he had a feeling it could be too late if she spent much time thinking about what they'd discussed that evening. For now, though, he would enjoy the company of a good friend.

_A/N: This one doesn't have a clear resolution, but it was a conversation I imagined her having with Gordon Gordon. I call it The Dark Side of Logic because logic, while it can be a very useful tool, it has a distinctly dark nature to it when applied to things that have a significant number of random variables, such as human emotion, and in particular love. I wanted Bones to hear, in a vague way, that reality. I hope you all enjoyed this one. Gregg._


	2. Chapter 2

_I decided to add one more chapter to this one in which Booth now comes to Gordon Gordon for some advice. Thank you for the incredibly humbling response to the original chapter to this one. This will indeed be the last chapter to this, and it, too, is open ended, but that is by design. I want to be able to have a story that discusses the drawback of logic, not give a resolution to a problem we each would enjoy seeing resolved on the show. I hope you enjoy this one. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Gordon Gordon was not terribly surprised to see Special Agent Booth come into his establishment a few days after Dr. Brennan. He'd been expecting it, actually. Those to were so predictable that it was amazing that they had managed to remain relatively unscathed for as long as they had. But there was no denying their underlying talents, and also their deep bond that somehow allowed them to "channel" each other, for lack of a better phrase. He was certain that with these two, if they ever got together, and he hoped that they will, he would be the recipient of their visits quite often. Such Alpha personalities as a couple were bound to seek out assistance in the rough patches.

"Ah, Agent Booth!" Gordon Gordon said with enthusiasm. "Please have a seat! How about a nice appetizer of Lamb Fries?"

"Sheeps' balls???" Booth said with genuine horror in his voice. "Hell no, Gordon Gordon! A nice juicy steak will do nicely."

Gordon Gordon sighed. "Why do I even try? You do realize that this is a gourmet kitchen, with gourmet meals being prepared?" he asked, trying for the dramatic. Agent Booth was always an interesting individual to draw into odd situations.

"I built you a brick barbecue at your house, Doc," Booth replied, not at all repentant. "I would hope that that would be worth a slight lowering to the level of a steak and potato meal once in a great while. Besides, I'm here on business."

"Business? A catering job perhaps? A wedding reception for you and Dr. Brennan?" he threw in the blatant zinger wanting to see the reaction. He got it very quickly. The slump of Agent Booth's shoulders, the scowl on his face, and the look of a thoroughly rejected man.

"No, Sweets screwed that one up," Booth said bitterly.

"And how may I ask did my former colleague make a mess of that?" Gordon Gordon asked. He was curious as to Agent Booth's perspective of that night.

Booth spent a bit of time giving his rendition of the day in question, beginning with the discussion on the way to therapy, all the way to the disastrous confrontation with Bones afterward. He didn't leave anything out as far as he could tell, and during this he had his salad, which he grudgingly ate, and then his steak and baked potato arrived as he finished the rendition. He looked down at the steak and smiled.

"Now that's a meal, Gordon Gordon!" he said with a certain teasing arrogance.

"Sadly, that's a debate we will have to postpone until another time," Gordon Gordon sighed. He would love to engage in a discussion of the virtues of gourmet meals versus this standard fare which passed for good eating to so many, but Agent Booth was here for something totally different, and much more important.

"This is great!" Booth said as he took a bite of the steak. He was very discriminating about his steaks.

"Thank you," Gordon Gordon said, a bit of amusement in his voice. "So you decided to take a chance that Dr. Sweets was correct." He saw another slump of the shoulders.

"Yeah," Booth said as he took a sip of water. "He was so... I don't know... sure of himself, I guess. All I know is I was shot down and I've been miserable ever since."

"What about your subconscious?" Gordon Gordon prodded.

"What?" Booth asked, confused. Not that that was surprising as he was always confused when discussing things with Gordon Gordon.

"I've listened to both you and Dr. Brennan describe what happened that night..." he began.

"Bones came to you?" Booth asked, startled.

Gordon Gordon smiled. He wouldn't ordinarily divulge such information, but it wasn't revealing a confidence, per se, and there was a point to this. Besides, he wasn't a practicing psychologist anymore. Right?

"A few days ago," he informed Agent Booth. "The interesting thing is that you did not pick up on something very significant that happened on your way to Dr. Sweets' office."

"Nothing happened on the way to Sweets' office," Booth said with a stab at his excellent steak.

"I beg to differ," Gordon Gordon countered. "She implied very strongly that she loves you."

Booth almost choked on his steak and had to take a few drinks of water to settle down. He coughed and huffed, clearing his throat so he could speak. "Now, Doc, I was there, okay? I can guarantee you that Bones did not imply anything about loving me. If she had I'm pretty sure I would have been doing a touchdown dance right then and then told Sweets' to go fuck himself when he said I needed to be the one to make a move," Booth countered. He didn't ordinarily use that kind of profane comment, but he was still pretty pissed at Sweets over this whole mess. He was also aware that Bones had had lunch with Hacker the other day and that **_really_** pissed him off.

"Think for a moment," Gordon Gordon halted the mini tirade. "You were concerned about the issue of Dr. Sweets thinking that the two of you are in love, and were pressing the issue with Dr. Brennan about whether you should tell him it may be a mistake, even though it isn't."

"Yeah," Booth admitted. "I didn't want Bones to freak and run."

"Understandable," Gordon Gordon conceded. "But she told you when the subject was brought up that it didn't matter, that that wasn't what was wrong with the book."

"So? Bones told me she loves me like a partner. An atta boy sorta way," Booth cringed as he said that last, knowing that when she'd said it she'd been echoing his idiotic statement from a moment before that when he'd tried to get up the courage to tell her he loved her when she got back from Guatemala. Her statement had been as much a lie of understatement as his had been. He'd seen it in her eyes that night.

"But Dr. Sweets' book was very clearly discussing romantic love, Agent Booth, and Dr. Brennan said that that wasn't the mistake," Gordon Gordon told him. "And the rendition that I have heard from both of you was almost identical, even down to the basic descriptions of your feelings that day. She was clearly implying that she is in love with you."

Booth took a few more bites of his steak while he pondered that. He could see the point, but one thing bothered him. "Then if that's the case, why am I miserable and trying to move on instead of being happy with Bones?" he asked a touch petulantly.

Gordon Gordon reached over to a tray that had been set down for his inspection. He picked up a piece of raw beef, red and a little bloody. He always inspected all meats before use. "You did the one thing that you shouldn't have. I told you that you should be patient, and have hope. Instead you seared her."

"Don't you mean scared her?" Booth asked.

"No, no," Gordon Gordon chuckled. He loved metaphors and was now going to get to use one. "Think of Dr. Brennan's emotions as this piece of raw filet minon. Like this piece of meat, her emotions over the years have become raw, tender, and somewhat bloodied. You've provided a means for her to develop more positive emotions and feelings, but those old wounds are still there, just under the surface, like this bloody piece of meat. Think of your sudden move just after your meeting with Dr. Sweets as placing a piece of raw steak on an exceptionally high heat, searing the outer surface quickly, but leaving the bloody center still there. It's quick, and painful, like the loud sizzling of the skillet or other searing surface. Think of what that would do to those raw, bloody emotions just beneath the surface of Dr. Brennan's mind."

"Fuck," Booth said, not even really aware of his use of such a strong epithet, though it was rather appropriate considering the plummeting of his stomach at that moment of realization. "I burned her."

"A rather apt metaphor," Gordon Gordon conceded. "For Dr. Brennan to be truly ready, her emotions need to be slowly healed, the bloody mess and raw flesh slowly given a distinctive color all their own, made whole, if you will. Not to speak ill of my colleague, but Dr. Sweets did both of you a grave disservice, and you did Dr. Brennan a disservice by not continuing the healing process."

"Is there still hope?" Booth asked, utterly too sick to his stomach to finish the steak.

"I believe so," Gordon Gordon told him. "Dr. Brennan reverted to her defense mechanism: logic. She is just now learning that it also has a very dark side with consequences. Give her time to deal with this."

"I don't know if I can," Booth said in a much quieter voice.

"May I ask why not?" Gordon Gordon asked, though he was fairly certain why.

"I told her I needed to move on," Booth replied. "I've been trying, and she knows that. But I also know she had lunch with that idiot Hacker the other day."

"And you're jealous?"

"Not exactly. I opened the door to Bones dating again, so I expected something like this," Booth admitted. "But Hacker is out for only one thing, and that's to get Bones in bed. Bones is very open about her desires and sexuality, and has no problem with the idea of casual sex, but I don't know if I can handle her being with my supervisor. It was bad enough seeing her with Sully a couple of years ago."

"There's nothing I can do about that," Gordon Gordon replied. "I can tell you what I told her. Every defense mechanism has it's dark side, and it's weaknesses. Her's was logic being applied to emotions, and yours is a stubborn pride that is being applied to a situation of your own creating. This may or may not work out, but the two of you need to be honest with each other at some point. Otherwise this will end in disaster. For both of you."

Booth sighed. "It sure seems to he heading that way," he commented. "Bones is scared that we won't be able to work together because of this, and I told her we could, but I just don't know. She could see the doubt in me when I paused after she asked that."

"Skepticism is a normal reaction to emotional turmoil," Gordon Gordon explained. "It allows us to examine what is happening, and learn from our mistakes."

"What if we can't learn from this mistake?" Booth asked the one question he was the most afraid of having an answer to.

"That, I'm afraid would be up to the two of you," came the answer. "Both of you know what you each want, and need. No one can supply the answers for you. But the two of you need to resist letting the darker side of your emotional security blankets, if you will, dictate how you make those choices."

"No more searing," Booth nodded, using the metaphor that Gordon Gordon had used earlier. He was pleased that this was one of those rare conversations where Gordon Gordon was a bit clearer in what he was getting at.

"Exactly," Gordon Gordon replied, his usual smile now firmly in place. After this he was going to break open a fine bottle of wine and ease the tension that was forming. Dealing with these two particular people was a headache of epic proportions.

Booth pushed his plate back and stood up. "Well I gotta go," he said with a smile. He may not feel like smiling, but he did feel better than he did when he came in. Not much, but a bit.

"Are you sure I can't interest you in some freshly prepared Lamb fries? They're quite good," Gordon Gordon said as he popped one in his mouth and ate it contentedly.

"I'll leave that kind of stuff for you, Doc," Booth said as he mentally vomited at the sight of a guy eating the testicles of a Lamb. "Thanks for the help, Doc," he said as he left that sight rather quickly.

Gordon Gordon grinned. His two friends were so predictable it was almost humorous. It would be if the stakes weren't so high this time around. He hoped that they would decide to give what he had told them serious thought and consideration. Their darker sides were emerging in their personal defense mechanisms, and it could end what had become a friendship, a relationship, of incredible importance to both of them. He turned to one of the chefs and looked with a disappointed countenance. "Redo that batch of Lamb fries," he said with a sigh. "They were a bit underdone." Inside, though, he was happy to get back to his passion. Being a chef, and enjoying the final presentation of his, and his staffs' efforts. Unfortunately the final presentations of his previous profession were far less obvious, and never really complete. Ah well. In cooking as in psychology he would continue to strive to bring his subjects into the light. He made his way to the center of the kitchen and continued on his vigil, and as he did so, he wondered if anyone else from the Jeffersonian or the FBI would show up.

_A/N: I hope that this one was worth adding a second chapter. I added the last sentence in case the urge to write another companion chapter strikes me. Thank you for all the great reviews of the first chapter. Gregg. _


	3. Chapter 3

_I decided to add one last chapter to this one, so that all three of the participants in the perverse drama that was the end scene of the 100th episode have a chance to glean some of the wisdom of Gordon Gordon. In some ways this three part story has been a kind of catharsis for myself to allow me to develop some insight into how to approach further chapters of Booth's Lie, which I have been putting off adding to for a variety of reasons. I hope you like this one. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

'_Ah, the final actor in this fine little drama that has developed is now making an appearance center stage_,' Gordon Gordon thought to himself as he spied Lance Sweets coming into his establishment. In many ways felt sorrier for the brilliant young man that he did for Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth. He felt good about his conversations with the two stubborn individuals, and he sincerely wished them success in finding the means to realize that all they need to do is let loose of the darker elements of their own personal defense mechanisms in order to be truly happy. Dr. Sweets, however, was another matter entirely.

"Dr. Sweets!" Gordon Gordon greeted the young man with a good natured smile and an offer of his hand to shake.

"Dr. Wyatt," Sweets said, a bit lacking on the enthusiasm, but he wasn't here on pleasant business. He needed help to understand what had turned so horribly wrong for his two favorite people in the whole world.

"Oh, please, dispense with the obsolete titles, my dear fellow," Gordon Gordon admonished. "I'm a chef now, and a chef I'll always be."

"I'm afraid I need more than a chef right now," Sweets said, a bit of a downcast look on his face.

"Please, please take a seat," Gordon Gordon said as he led the young man into the kitchen and to the chef's table. "Would you care for a glass of wine? And perhaps some dinner?"

"Got any Wild Turkey? Or better yet, maybe some Everclear? I could use a good alcohol induced coma about now," Sweets said, not really looking up at his friend, and someone he professionally admired.

"No, but I think a good meal, and good conversation would do you some good," Gordon Gordon replied, now pleased that the young man had come to see him. It was becoming very clear that despite his best efforts, when it came to a certain select group of people, he would always be Gordon Gordon, the friendly psychologist who had the magic touch. Not that he would describe his abilities in that fashion, but Agent Booth surely would. He brought over a bowl of a creamy soup and placed it in front of the very morose young man. "Now, why don't you begin with this appetizer bowl of lobster in a cream based soup, lightly simmered."

Sweets took a tentative spoonful, not having cared much for lobster in the past, but to his astonishment this soup was superb. The rich flavors of the cream and lobster, along with the spices were perfectly balanced and none overpowered the other. "Now this is excellent," he commented.

Gordon Gordon smiled. At least he knew that he could satisfy his friends with his meager culinary offerings. Meager seeing as his friends were hardly connoisseurs of gourmet, though Dr. Brennan was almost one. "Thank you, Lance," he replied. "Now what brings you here to my humble kitchen?" He saw, just like with Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, a definite slumping of the shoulders, and a downward look into his bowl of soup.

"I'm a failure," Sweets said in a rather pathetic tone of voice. To anyone listening it would have sounded thoroughly dejected and defeated.

"That's a rather harsh assessment, don't you think?" Gordon Gordon reproached mildly.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what happened," Sweets told him.

"Perhaps, but I won't know for sure unless you tell me what the dilemma is," came the instant reply. He watched as Sweets pondered whether or not to disclose what he'd originally come to talk about.

"Remember when we discussed my book last year?" Sweets asked.

"Of course," Gordon Gordon replied. It had been a very good piece of work, even if he had drawn some inelegant conclusions regarding Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth. The work as a whole needed a great deal of revision and some rethinking.

"I spent a lot of time since then revising and then giving a great deal of thought to what you said, and then had a new draft ready. I asked Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth to each read it and give me there honest opinion," Sweets told him.

"And what was their reaction?" Gordon Gordon asked. He knew the whole story, but now he could get the third perspective in all of this.

"They said I was wrong," Sweets said with a shocked look on his face. "I almost freaked, but then they said I was wrong about when they first worked together. I was about to sink through the floor. My whole premise was based on observing them from the perspective of their partnership beginning with the Cleo Eller case. Now I find out they worked together a year before that?"

"Did you ever ask them when they first worked together?" Gordon Gordon asked, amused by that issue.

"Uh, no," Sweets replied, a bit embarrassed by that fact.

"Then you made an assumption, and based on that assumption developed your conclusions," Gordon Gordon.

"Exactly," Sweets sighed, relieved that someone understood.

"I still don't see the problem," Gordon Gordon responded. "Surely such an error wouldn't change the basic conclusions of your work."

"I wasn't thinking terribly rationally at that time," Sweets revealed. "I asked them to tell me of their first time working together."

"And they did?" Gordon Gordon said, trying to act surprised. Sweets was in a precarious position with respect to his confidence, and knowing that the young mans patients had come to him with their troubles would only compound those confidence issues.

"Oh, yeah," Sweets replied. He spent a few minutes going over that first case, including the almost one night stand, and then the end of the partnership when they began fighting at the end of the case. "Then I blew it."

"Oh?"

"Big time!" Sweets added as he took a last bite of his soup.

"And just how did you _blow it_ using your own colorful vernacular?" Gordon Gordon asked.

"I didn't see anything that was going to change the conclusion that they are in love, so I pressed it," Sweets revealed. "I goaded Booth by saying that if there was going to be any kind of move forward it would have to come from him seeing as he was the gambler. It had to be him."

"And?" Gordon Gordon asked.

"I don't know for sure, but from what I understand Booth took a gamble and got shot down, hard," Sweets groaned.

"Have they talked to you about this?"

"No," Sweets slumped his shoulders. "They've been evasive, or abrupt when I bring it up, or anything related. Now Booth is dating a scientist, and from what I understand Dr. Brennan has been to lunch once or twice with Andrew Hacker. Neither, from their body language, is happy about the other's dating activities. The worst part is, I want to help them, and make amends for the damage I did, but unless it has to do with profiling, or other work related issues, they won't let me. I feel like a failure."

There it was. The admission that Gordon Gordon was waiting for. The young man had said it at the beginning of their conversation, but he'd needed to say it after explaining all that had happened. It now had some depth to it, and a bit of a tangible quality to work with.

"You're hardly a failure, Dr. Sweets," Gordon Gordon assured him.

"I failed the two people who really depend on me," Sweets said, not really thinking about how that sounded. Booth and Brennan hadn't depended on anyone other than each other since almost the moment they'd first began to be partners.

"No you didn't," Gordon Gordon told him. "You made a mistake based on a serious miscalculation, but when it comes to the failure, it is they themselves who failed each other."

"But don't you see? I was the catalyst. If it wasn't for me, these new events wouldn't be happening and they would still be making some forward progress. Now they're more distant than they've been in years," Sweets pressed.

"Dr. Sweets...Lance, we all have some dark side to our own personalities, and how we use our defense mechanisms," Gordon Gordon said after a moment. "For Dr. Brennan it is her deadly use of logic to explain illogical concepts, such as emotions, and love in particular. For Agent Booth, it is his pride, which will not allow him to step back and continue his waiting for Dr. Brennan to come to her senses."

"Then what's mine? Hubris?" Sweets asked.

"Nothing so dramatic, and it is unavoidable in you," Gordon Gordon replied.

"Unavoidable?" Sweets asked.

"Your youth and inexperience with life," Gordon Gordon explained. He raised a hand to continue. "Life hasn't always been easy for you, Lance, and it gave you some serious life lessons, but the real lessons in life, and the needed value in helping others is having lived in the real world. You are brilliant, and accomplished, but you are also suffering from the one malady that only time will cure ans what we have all suffered from at some point: youth. It makes you a bit impetuous, and eager to reach a goal. That is telling in this episode, but it isn't a failure. Agent Booth didn't have to take your advice, and Dr. Brennan didn't have to react so passionately by hiding behind a false shield of logic. They understand that, and while they may take some time before allowing you to deal with their interpersonal issues, they will at some point."

"I'm considering not publishing my book," Sweets revealed.

Gordon Gordon smiled. "That, Young Man, is a very good decision. May I ask why?"

"It just seems like every time I get in over my head with Booth and Brennan is when it relates to my book," Sweets replied. I guess maybe if I end the idea of the book, then perhaps it will set a better tone for when they trust me again."

"I believe it will set a good tone, but they already trust you," Gordon Gordon told him. "They still work with you, and to some extent let you interact with them. They are, unfortunately for you, very strong willed, and very independent people. For them to ask for help is something that will only happen when they are in serious need, which they don't recognize yet. Give it time, Lance. I think that they may just surprise you."

"What's your opinion?" Sweets asked. "Are they in love"

Gordon Gordon chuckled. "That is the question, is it not?" he asked rhetorically. "Yes, they are. Very much so, in fact. That's why they are having the difficulties that that are."

Sweets didn't understand that, though it sounded familiar somehow. "Huh?"

"Both are afraid of hurting the other, Lance," Gordon Gordon said. "Almost to the point of emotional paralysis, regardless of whether they would ever admit to such emotional turmoil. It also makes them very dependent on the other, which in turn makes even casual relationships with other people very difficult."

"So what should we do?" Sweets asked, in some ways showing his youth by trying to solve a problem that needed its own time to sort things through.

"The only thing we can do," Gordon Gordon replied. "Have a bit of faith, and hope."

"That's it?" Sweets asked.

"It's the driving premise of our profession, or rather your profession, Dr. Sweets," Gordon Gordon told him. "Give it a few years and you will discover that truism for yourself, and also become more comfortable with Dr. Brennan's characterization of psychology as a _soft science_. My faith, and hope, is based on the desire to see them be honest with each other at some point. When that happens, I think we will be pleased with the results."

"And until then?" Sweets asked, not really liking this, but knowing that the older man was undoubtedly correct.

"Be the kind of friend that they can come to when they are ready," Gordon Gordon advised. "And for Heaven's sake, stop thinking of yourself as a failure! You're young, and you made some mistakes. Learn from them, and move on to the next case."

"Did you ever make some serious mistakes early on?" Sweets asked.

"Oh my yes!" Gordon Gordon laughed. "Let me bring you the main course, and I'll fill you in on some of my own dark secrets from my former professional life. I think you'll see that, despite your current malaise, you're hardly alone in making some awful blunders."

Sweets smiled for probably the first time that day. "I'd like that," he replied as Gordon Gordon stood up to get the main course. "Thanks Dr. Wyatt."

Gordon Gordon smiled back. "Anytime for my friends, Dr. Sweets," he told the young man who now showed some real promise of coming away from this experience a much better psychologist, and a better person. Gordon Gordon may have retired from his former profession, but he was beginning to realize that despite that, there were some people he would always want to help. The three people who had come seeking him out recently were decidedly on that very short list.

_A/N: This was the last chapter to this. I hope that this one on Sweets visiting Gordon Gordon was a good addition. It's a different dark side as it is something that Sweets can't do anything about except live and learn: his youth. Thank you for the great reviews and support for this story. Gregg._


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